Alka withdrew his thoughts and spoke, "Begin."
"The trial begins its operation...
Space expanding...
Ti phase solidifying..."
"I hope you can surpass yourself and strive upwards." The voice echoed and then faded away.
The stone wall before him began to change, transforming into a sturdy, tall door. Strange sculptures were carved on the door, converging in the center to form a scene of surrounding mountain peaks. Flas ignited on the stone pillars flanking the doorfra. Alka stepped forward and placed his hands on the door.
So heavy. The weight of this stone door was beyond his imagination. He tested it; it seed possible to push open, but it would require significant force. Exerting all his might, Alka planted his legs firmly and strained to push the stone door. As he pushed forward with trendous force, the stone door slowly creaked inward, revealing a gap just wide enough for a person to pass through. Only then did Alka release his hands, panting to catch his breath.
Even opening the door counts as part of the trial? The effort just now had taken him almost to his limit. Clearly, this stone door was custom-made. Alka’s interest in this trial grew.
As Alka stepped inside, the stone door behind him slowly closed. Before him lay a vast arena, roughly the size of a football field. Suddenly, the sky filled with dark clouds, thunder rumbled, and a torrential rain began to fall, instantly drenching Alka. The entire arena was shrouded in the downpour.
A figure appeared ahead—a humanoid figure clad in a pure black cloak. It vanished into the darkness and lunged swiftly at Alka. The torrential rain, the dim surroundings, and the sporadic rumbles of thunder all served as the enemy’s camouflage.
Alka frowned. A card made of a thin Mirror appeared in his hand, and he infused it with Magic Power. A Rune materialized on the Mirror’s surface, and Alka hurled it forward. The card cut through the rain curtain and exploded in mid-air. The explosion violently flung a figure out. It crashed heavily to the ground, the Shield protecting it shattering on impact.
The instant it hit the ground, its hands beca free. A chilling light flashed in them as it rapidly swung its arms towards Alka. Cold glints of light flickered, piercing the downpour. Several daggers, coated with what seed to be an unknown poison and emanating a faint, unsettling glow, were hurled towards Alka. The daggers flew with incredible speed, empowered by so Spell that allowed them to tear through the air.
A Mirror materialized in front of Alka, absorbing all the incoming daggers. Then, another Mirror appeared behind the enemy. The daggers it had thrown shot out from the Mirror behind it, flying back towards their owner. Reacting to the sudden attack from behind, the enemy slapped the ground, using both hands and feet to propel itself upward. Although it dodged most of the daggers, two still pierced its back and thigh.
It imdiately collapsed, glaring in Alka’s direction. Then, it furiously drew a dagger and slashed it across its own neck. A large amount of blood gushed out. However, the gushing blood didn’t imdiately fall to the ground. Instead, it floated in mid-air. Raindrops passed right through the suspended blood, not picking up the slightest trace of red. In an instant, the blood transford into a barrage of Blood Bullets that shot towards Alka. The Blood Bullets were extrely fast and imnsely powerful. The Mirror Alka had used to block, absorb, and redirect attacks was instantly shattered.
Have they figured it out? Alka wondered. Was it that obvious? The defensive Mirror of Passage, created from the Mirror Surface and Dream Power, can only let physical attacks like daggers and arrows pass through. Energy Attacks linked to Magic have to be blocked by its own resilience; it can’t redirect them.
But before those Blood Bullets reached him, Alka had already dodged to the side. The Blood Bullets seed to possess tracking capabilities, curving in mid-air to continue their pursuit. The fallen enemy clutched the wound on its neck, its eyes fixed on Alka through the curtain of rain.
So troubleso? As he muttered this, several cards appeared in Alka’s hands, and he threw them out. Two cards traced arcs through the air, colliding with the Blood Bullets before exploding. The resulting explosion of flas t the blood, producing an acrid, burnt sll. This, however, managed to stop the attack. The remaining Blood Bullets suddenly lost montum and fell to the ground, no longer pursuing Alka.
Noticing this, Alka looked towards the figure lying on the ground amidst the rain. The figure had already closed its eyes and collapsed. Blood from its neck mingled with the rainwater, dyeing the ground red. Its corpse dimd and then dissipated.
The thunder ceased, and the rain stopped. The previously dim arena brightened.
"First level successfully cleared."
Hearing this voice, Alka stood still, thinking. Based on what he had heard upon entering, soone of his strength should be heading to the fourth level. His current strength was Third Stage, 14 Spirals. The most basic trial standard was the Second Stage. By logical deduction, levels one through three should fall within the Second Stage trial range. This ant the enemy he just faced was likely only at Four Spirals.
Tsk... Is that what a Four Spirals cultivator is capable of? Alka was puzzled. The capabilities displayed by that enemy far exceeded what one would expect from a Four Spirals cultivator. It was clearly configured to be a top-tier opponent for that rank. If I had faced this enemy when I was at Four Spirals, even with a Treasure, I would have been in serious trouble.
It seems this trial won’t be easy to complete, Alka thought with a frown.
A roaring noise echoed again. The arena vanished, and he found himself back in the stone chamber he had first entered. The previous door appeared once more. This ti, however, a nural ’2’ was displayed above the door, indicating it led to the second level.
Alka stepped forward, once again exerting imnse strength to push the stone door open. As he pushed the stone door open, a wave of energy swept over him, seemingly erasing all his fatigue. His entire body felt rejuvenated; his condition was fully restored.
This is pretty good, Alka thought. Facing each level in peak condition.
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